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Fielder, Hardy help Bush end skid in Brewers win

May 9, 2007 - 5:51 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Dave Bush kept the Milwaukee Brewers' streak alive by ending one of his own.

Bush pitched six solid innings and snapped a personal two-game losing streak as the Brewers posted their fifth straight victory, 6-4, over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.

Prince Fielder snapped a 1-1 tie with his 10th homer of the season - a three-run shot to right-center field in the sixth - for the Brewers, who are 8-1 on their current 10-game homestand.

"(Winning) never gets old, you just try to keep it going for as long as we can," said Fielder, who has 15 RBI on the homestand. "We push each other, and it makes the games fun. If one person gets a hit, that guy pushes the other ones to get one. Hopefully, we can keep doing it."

Meanwhile Bush (3-3), who had allowed 11 earned runs in his previous 12 1/3 innings got his first win in three tries. He allowed a leadoff homer to Felipe Lopez, but then settled down to retire 13 of the next 17 batters he faced. He allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Bush ran into trouble in the seventh, when he allowed a leadoff single to Brian Schneider and hit Robert Fick. After a sacrifice by Nook Logan, rookie Kory Casto followed with a sacrifice fly and Lopez doubled home a run to cut the lead to 4-3.

"I was close to getting out of it," Bush said. "We had a little room for error, we had a few-run lead, so I continued to make pitches and Matt (Wise) came in and bailed me out on the last (out)."

Wise relieved Bush and got the final out of the inning and Derrick Turnbow worked a scoreless eighth.

Francisco Cordero allowed his first run of the season in the ninth, when Fick doubled, moved to third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch. However, Cordero got Lopez to line out to record his 14th save of the season in 14 chances.

"'Coco' came out for his fourth night in a row, but those extra runs gave him the piece of mind that he didn't have to be razor sharp," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

Johnny Estrada went 3-for-4 with two RBI for Milwaukee. He tied the game at 1-1 with a double in the second and hit his third homer of the season in the eighth.

"We did what it took to win tonight," Estrada said. "The teams I've played on, I'm used to winning, and it's nice to see these guys getting used to winning as well."

The Brewers, who boast the best record in baseball (23-10), took the lead in the sixth. Rickie Weeks led off with a single and J.J Hardy followed with a double, extending his career-high hitting streak to 19 games. Fielder then hit a three-run blast to right-center field for a 4-1 lead.

Hardy hit his ninth home run in the eighth for a 5-3 lead.

"The kids came up in the sixth inning, Rickie singles, J.J. doubles and Prince homers, and that's basically the game," Yost said. "It's hard for me to say the kids are doing it all, because their not, but it's a nice blend between the young guys and the veteran guys and everybody is pulling their weight."

Making his first start in three years, Washington starter Jason Simontacchi (0-1) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. Simontacchi missed the 2005 season after shoulder surgery and pitched in the independent leagues in 2006.

Lopez went 2-for-5 with two RBI for Washington, which has lost a season-high eight straight.